By Ashley Karen
Network Rail is to start works to link a new tunnel in north of Peterborough to the current East Coast Main Line, in an effort to boost journeys for the passengers.
The project at Werrington which is a part of the £1.2bn East Coast Upgrade, is going to enable slower moving freight trains to dive beneath the well-known passenger route.
Preparation works for the tunnel link started back in January this year, when engineers pushed the world’s longest single underground jacked structure – an 11,000-tonne curved concrete box – into place at Werrington.
From then, essential works has occurred to install nearly 4km of track inside the new tunnel, plus signaling equipment, without disrupting train services.
On 17 and 18 July, engineers are going to perform works to link the new track to the current Stamford lines.
Over those days, services will carry on running for passengers on the East Coast Main Line, although a section of the line between Peterborough and Stamford will be closed to enable teams to link the tracks safely.
Ed Akers, the Network Rail East Coast Upgrade’s principal programme sponsor stated: “We used challenging industry leading techniques to push the tunnel into place and our teams have continued to work around the clock to install the new track without impacting on services.
He also asserted: “This work to connect the tunnel to the existing lines is only possible when there are no trains running on this section of the route. We’ve carefully planned the work and have bus replacements in place to keep passengers moving. We want to thank people for their patience whilst this vital stage of the project is carried out.”
These works are anticipated to be finished over the summer, being ready for train services to use it later this year.
